Winter Olympics: Shaun White says he has plenty more to show in halfpipe

Have questions about halfpipe snowboarding? Let Shaun White and other Olympic snowboarders explain.

USA TODAY Sports

PYEONGCHANG, South Korea — Shaun White already won one of the most progressive halfpipe competitions when he watched his competitors push the level of riding further.

Now as he heads into his fourth Olympics, White says he has more to show in a run.

The two-time Olympic gold medalist scored a perfect 100 at the U.S. Grand Prix at Snowmass last month to lock up his spot on the team. Fighting a cold, he had to pull out of the last qualifier the following week and X Games the week after that.

Japanese rider Ayumu Hirano narrowly beat Australian Scotty James in a competition filled with big, technical tricks. American Ben Ferguson, one of the most stylish riders competing, was close behind in third.

“It was really great for me to watch every single competition that’s gone down, but especially X was cool just because people we’re this close to the Olympics, so close to the Olympics and everybody’s trying their hardest runs,” White said. “To see Ayumu really put it down and what his scores were compared with Scotty’s scores and what everybody was doing.

“It was inspiring to watch and get motivated.”

White punched his ticket to Korea in January with a perfect 100 on a run that included a massive 1440 double cork on the first hit and two more 1260 double corks. In the same contest, James became the first rider to land a switch backside double cork 1260, a highly technical trick that requires him to ride in his unnatural stance and do two off-axis flips and 3.5 spins.

He landed it again at the X Games, where Hirano became the first rider to do back-to-back double cork 1440s.

White said Thursday that he’s working on back-to-back 14s.

“I don’t think we’ve seen my best run,” he said. “It’s not just about one big trick. It’s about the whole run. I definitely have a couple things in mind that I’ve been working on that I’d like to iron out and here’s the time to basically do it and try to put it in my run. I’m excited.”